Bee Bath
by Noble-XI Bishop
Summary: After a long mission of clearing out another Dust Mine, Yang decides to unwind and relax, but when a lingering question from Tai ponders her mind and the very person said question was about joins her, will new emotions be revealed? Bumbleby, Volume 7 time frame, set around episode 5. *Spoiler Warning* for those who haven't seen Vol. 7 yet. Rated T for later parts


As the door slid closed behind her, Yang let out a gentle sigh as she set her towel down on the table. She and Blake had recently returned from a mission out to the Dust Mines with Marrow, a simple Grimm clear-out job. They had landed about an hour ago, nearing dinner time, so Yang figured what better way to unwind after a mission that taking a dip. Atlas Academy had installed, along with its various training rooms, dorms and the like, they had installed various hot tubs in the academy, for those who simply wanted to relax. And now being a fully licensed Huntress, she decided why not, it won't be time for dinner for about an hour, give or take. Yang stepped to the rim of the tub, looking down at her reflection in the calm water, seeing her lilac eyes staring back at her. She had her orange sleep shirt and black shorts resting with her towel, along with her jacket. She was cladded up in a black two-piece bathing suit, with gold accenting colors, and her emblem on her right cup. She slowly stepped in, giving a deep, relieving sigh as the hot water soothed her aching muscles. As she stepped further in, she held the railing along her sides, before everything below her waist was submerged.

She slowly waded her way to a corner of the tub, gripping onto the railing with her right arm, before taking a final look around to see if anyone was around. Seeing she was alone, she nodded slightly, feeling her arm give a mechanical _'Click' _and feeling the metal prosthetic detach from her joint socket. The arm still held the same position she left it in, attached to the pool rail. She then sat down, feeling the water fully envelope her up to her shoulders, giving another sigh and laying her head back against the rim of the tub. "Music" Yang spoke softly, hearing her arm give a small beep "Night Tunes 5" she spoke, before being replied with the soft sound of stormy rain and saxophones. Yang smiled, turning to her left and seeing the control panel for the jets, conviniently placed close by. She reached out and turned on the timer for 15 minutes, feeling them kick on almost instantly. Feeling content for the moment, she closed her eyes and let the jets do their thing. Try as she might, her mind wouldn't rest the way she wanted it to. With a grunt, Yang opened her eyes and looked over at her arm, just staring at it for a minute. Even after everything, she is amazed by how many hits that thing took and still motored on before getting the upgrades. Reaching over to it, she flipped open a small panel on the side, grabbing her scroll (A design Pietro thought would be more accesible than keeping the new, smaller scroll in a pocket) and opened it up.

After spending a minute or two just scrolling through the news, mainly just more and more talks about the election and Robyn Hill's currently standing to take the win with a 80/20 lead over Jacque Schnee, Yang pulled up her photos. First thing she sees is a screenshot of her Huntress License, having sent it to her and Ruby's father Taiyang. Oh the call she got almost immediately after hitting send was so to be expected, making Yang smile as she remembered how it went:

_Flashback:_

_ "Dad, I literally just hit send!" Yang laughed, knowing the response._

_ "AM I NOT ALLOWED TO CALL MY DAUGHTERS, WHO JUST BECAME FULL FLEDGED HUNTRESSES?!" Yang held the phone away from her ear, chuckling at her fathers' enthusiasm. After returning her phone back to her ear and saving her eardrums, Tai spoke again. "Seriously though, kiddo, congrats, I am so proud of you and Ruby! Man, I wish I was there to hug you guys!" Tai complimented, and groaned, over the phone._

_ "The feelings mutual Dad, and not just us! Weiss, Blake and Team JNR got theirs too!" Yang smiled, still wrapping her head around what was happening._

_ "I figured as much kiddo heh. Say, since I got you on the phone, can I talk to you about something?" Tai suddenly sounded serious, making Yang confused and a little nervous. _

_ "Uh yea, just give me a qucik second." Yang spoke before telling the group she had to go for a minute. She walked around the corner of the seating area and got back on the phone. "What's up?"_

_ "I should start this off by saying this. Qrow told me about what happened at the comms tower…. With you, Blake and…." Tai trailed off, knowing Yang would catch on. _

_ "Oh…." was all she could say, leaning against the wall._

_ "Now, I know you two had no other options, it was live or die. All I want to know is are you alright?" Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out._

_ "I'm alright Dad, Blake is too, it just…. We never thought we had to do something like that, at least not now" Yang played her words carefully, not really knowing if Tai knows about Salem or not. _

_ "Okay, I wanted to be sure. Another thing, you two are good then?" Yang eyes shot open, her mouth gaping a bit. "I remember the stories you'd tell me in your letters back home, not just with training and missions, but with the other activities you and Team RWBY would do. Shopping trips with Weiss into Vale, walks around campus with Ruby, the many movie nights you four held together. But the one that always stuck out was the ones you'd tell me about when Blake would just be laying in bed, reading her book and you just sitting with her, occasionally reading with her, to her or getting read by her-"_

_ "Where are you going with this, Dad?" Yang interrupted, not wanting to be rude but she was supposed to be celebrating with her friends, not being questioned by her father._

_ "Just one simple question Yang, I don't need an answer now but it needs one soon. What's your real feeling for Blake?"_

_ Yang was froze. What did he just say? Before she could utter a word, she heard the very voice of conversation speak to her. _

_ "Yang! Come on, where'd you go?" Blake's voice echoed through the arena, shaking Yang from her trance._

_ "Gotta go Dad, Love you!" Before Tai even had a second to reply, the scroll clicked off. Yang took a deep breath before sliding the scroll back into her pocket and returning to the party, a smile plastered on her face, though the questioned burned in her mind for the rest of the night…._

_Flashback end_

Yang shook her head, falling outta her reminecing and staring back to her phone, scrolling to the next picture, the selfie she took of her and Blake at the party. She couldn't stop the smile forming on her lips as she looked at her partner, that wide smile of hers and those amber eyes. The hiss of the door opening brought Yang back to reality, setting her scroll down and leaning over to try and see who just came in "Hello?" she called out.

"Yang? Is that you?" popping her head around the corner, was the very person that was on Yang's mind.

"Oh hey Blake, yea it's just me, just wanted to unwind a bit" She spoke, not taking her eyes off the raven haired girl. Blake stepped out and towards the tub, setting her own towel and effects down with Yang's stuff on the table, though she had her back to Yang. Yang couldn't stop herself from staring as Blake stood there in her two-piece suit. A jet black suit with purple accenting lines around the edges of the clothing, though when she turned around, Yang had to quickly advert her eyes from staring at Blake's emblem, which rested on her left cup. Blake then stepped around and descended down the steps into the tub, giving a deep noise of bliss, her ears giving a small flutter. soon she was as submerge as Yang, water to her shoulders and resting against the rim. Yang could only smile to herself, seeing her partner enjoy herself, noting she had her eyes closed again.

"Hope I'm not disturbing you" She spoke, a small sound of wit in her tone, but the smile on her face made Yang's heart give a small flutter. Yang tried to form a response right away but she couldn't form the words, her mind focused on the Faunus in her presence. She couldn't help but gaze at her form, her mind going blank as she took it all in. Blake had lifted her arms to rest them along the rim of the tub, making Yang blush gently as this gave her a sight of side-boob, quickly adverting her gaze once more as to not be disrespectful, but the deed was done. She had caught sight, and now her mind was all full of Faunus bust, and her blush deepened as other thoughts began to plague her mind. Clearing her throat as quietly as she could, she managed a reply, or as best of one she could muster.

"N-no, never! You know how much I like your company!" She praised, giving one of her best winning smiles, trying to surpress her thoughts for the time being but as she did this, Blake had reopened her eyes to turn as stare at the Blonde Brawler.

"Really? Could've fooled me, with all the close-up selfies you took, I thought you didn't like me" Blake remarked, chuckling lightly, but noticed as she said that, Yang's face falter slightly, before regaining herself. "What? You know i'm just messing with you" Blake spoke, sitting up to properly look at her. Yang's smile grew smaller, but still apparent as she leaned on her left arm, taking and releasing a breath.

"I know, I know." She spoke the words but she didn't believe them entirely herself. She opened her mouth to speak again, only to be cut off by a sudden music change to a more rock and roll. Normally Yang would just let the tune carry, but she remembered how often that annoyed Blake, the only exception was if she was doing training. But just as Yang's fingers had gotten to her arm to change the playlist, she swore she could hear Blake humming along with the music, even muttering the lyrics to the instrumental.

"We're just good at being bad…." Blake muttered under her breath, not realizing that Yang was looking back at her with a look of surprise on her face. A small beat just passed before Blake caught on and her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. Blake cleared her throat "Little warm in here, ain't it?" She spoke absentmindedly, before the pink turned a darker shade at the realization of where she was again.

Yang couldn't stop the small laugh escaping her lips "Tends to happen in a _HOT_ tub, Kittycat" Yang smiles, making Blake roll her eyes at the nickname she often was called by the blonde, though she made no attempt to tell her to stop, nor to hide the small smile on her face. "Also, I thought you made it clear that you, save for training, you hated when I played The Achieve Men" Yang decided to have a little fun, wanting to mess with her partner. Blake's mouth opened and closed repeatedly, trying to find the words to fill the void.

"Well, I uh…. You see, I had uh…." Blake held her hand outta the water, snapping her fingers to try and think. Finally she gave a huff and, trying to be a little sneaky with it, slowly scooted closer to Yang. "Fine. Back on Menagerie, me and Sun were having a conversation about what was going on. The Fall, Adam, the team…." Blake seemed to trail off as she had kept scooting closer until she found herself nestled up against Yang. The dark pink on her cheeks were now a deep crimson, it didn't help that she felt Yang's arm sling around her shoulder, holding her close. "But um, after we had that talk, for some reason I went home that night and felt the urge to play their newest album. I guess I wasn't that annoyed by it as much as I had thought." _Belladonna, you are lying through your teeth!_ Blake could feel that notion in the pit of her stomach, knowing why she really played the music. Yang nodded slightly, her hold never lossening and holding Blake securely to her side.

"What did you guys talk about?" Blake look and was met with those damn lilac eyes, leaving her at a loss for a second, before shaking her head slightly and regaining composure.

"Well it started about the Faunus and trying to get help to fight for Haven, but it ended with me explaining how it seems most people I meet can be defined by a single word." Yang's confused look made Blake shake her head a little, chuckling. "Ruby was always the persona of Purity, always trying to do what was right and help who she could. Weiss was Defiance, always forging her own path. I had told Sun the jury was out on him still, but I was leaning towards Ernest." Blake smiled when Yang snorted before bursting into a fit of chuckles, before she shrugged and making a noise like she agreed with her. "I thought Adam was Justice, at least at first. Then after a while, I thought it grew to be Passion, trying to strive for a better world for the Faunus. But in reality I finally knew what he was. Spite. He just did things outta spite, claiming it was to help further peace. I just wish I would've seen it sooner…. "

Blake felt a small pull on the arm holding her, tugging her in closer to Yang's embrace/ Blake eyes widened a bit, and felt herself get a little flustered, though she couldn't tell if it was from the heat of the tub or the heat her partner naturally generated. "What's important, is that you saw the truth. And Blake-" Yang brought her hand up from Blakes shoulder to tilt her up to look at her "Adam is gone, he can't hurt you, or me, anymore." Blake could only stare before nodding and, wanting to just rest in the moment, just noticed the jets had turned off. Reaching absentmindedly behind her without leaving the embrace, she felt around for the switch to turn them back on. Eventually finding it and turning the dial to whatever to turn the jets back on. Once the pulsating feeling returned, she let herself be enveloped in the warmth she was feeling all around and nestled herself into Yang, closing her eyes and just letting the moment be. Yang seemed to have one last question however "What was I?" Blake opened her eyes and tilted her chin up to rest on Yang's shoulder.

"Hm?" Blake muttered.

"You mentioned Ruby, Weiss and Sun. What word did you have for me?" Yangs question was not one Blake had expected to be asked, but it wasn't unwelcome either. Sitting back up fully, Blake brought her hand up and rubbed the Brawler's back, occasionally running through that tangled mess of a mane.

"Strength. I always saw you as the strength of someone who is trying to help everyone before themselves." Blaek spoke softly, not once breaking eye contact with Yang, smiling as the Blondes cheeks flushed maroon and chuckled sheepishly.

"Well, that just leaves one person then." Confused, Blake tilted her head slightly.

"I didn't mention anyone else, so who-" As if to answer her, Blake suddenly felt her entire body shift from where she was sitting. She was still sitting, only this time was on Yang's lap, the water shifting back and forth from the motion. Even with one arm, Yang can move her with ease, but that was at the farthest depths of her mind. The foremost thing was that _She is sitting in Yang's lap! _Almost as if on cue, The Achieve Men's album ended and was replaced with some sappy mush song, but before anything else could happen, yang capitalized the moment and brought her hand up to Blake's cheek. Instinctively, Blake leaned into it, sighing contently.

"You may have had a word for everyone else but yourself…. That doesn't mean we didn't have our own words for each other." Blake ran her hand through her hair, tilting her head down a little, though not for longas Yang tilted her back up again. "At Beacon, I had thought that at first, you were just Mysterious, never talking much or doing something besides school or reading those Dust awful romance novels" Yang laughed as she knew her comment earned her a slap on the shoulder, albeit playful. Yang's face fell slightly as she continued "After The Fall, I had such anger, it changed to Avoidance…." Yang felt her heart twinge in pain as she saw Blake's cat ears flatten to her head. "But now, after Haven and Adam, I think I know the perfect word for you."

"I swear, if you say Purr-fect, I will slap you" Blake barbed in, though Yang knew she'd fully commit to what she'd said, making her chuckle and shake her head.

"Nah, those are puns for the bedroom. Hey!" Yang fully laughed as Blake splashed her for the quip, only to receive the same treatment back. Both girls stared at each other, face and hair dripping wet, but the facade could only be kept for so long and both Yang and Blake fell into a fit of giggles. After regaining her breath and controlling herself, Yang started once again "Seriously, though. To where we are now, the only word I can think that fits you…. Redemption."

Blake scoffed, shaking her head "Very funny Yang" though the longer she stared at Yang, seeing the seriousness she potrayed, Blake's smile left her "Redemption? Yang…."

"I'm serious, Blake. You knew what happened, and knew you had to try and stop Adam if you ever wanted to live your life. You tried to redeem yourself for everything that happened, for the pain you feel you caused with raids of the SDC, the attack on Beacon and Haven, Adam attacking at Argus…. And for what he did to me." Yang held her chin up the entire time she spoke, refusing to break eye contact, seeing the tears well up in the raven haired girls eyes, as well as feeling the ones in her own. "Blake, you don't have anything more to prove to anyone. And as your partner, I know the one thing nagging you still to this day." Blake took a sharp breath, opening her mouth to speak, before feeling a finger pressed against her lips. Yang shook her head "I need to say this Blake, you need to hear it." All Blake could do is just sigh and nod "Blake, even after everything that happened afterwards, not even knowing what the future held…. I would do it all again. In a heartbeat. I don't blame you for what he did to me, I never did."

As the words sank in, Blakes lip began to quiver before the gates opened and the tears began streaming down her face. Yang pulled her close, resting their foreheads together as Blake cried, the Blonde running her fingers through the raven locks, trying to soothe her partner. "I'm sorry" she blubbered out softly through the tears "I'm so, so sorry…." Yang said nothing, holding her as the emotions flowed around them, all the while feeling her own tears roll down her cheeks. A few minutes passed and Blake managed to regain control of her breathing, pulling back a little to look at Yang, her eyes red with tears. Giving a soft chuckle, Blake wiped her cheeks and spoke "Do you know what went through my mind when I saw you three in Haven?" Yang shook her head, saying nothing and letting her speak her piece. "Seeing Weiss with that Lancer Summon was jarring, obviously. Sharing a glance at Ruby, something told me she had changed in those months. But when I saw you…." Blake drew in a shaky breath, before continuing "Time stopped, and all I saw was you and me. All the movies we watched together, our sparring sessions, you pushing me to take care of myself during the dance and….our dance. When you and I twirled around the dance floor, it wasn't just fun, it felt…. It felt right, like having you beside me made me feel like anything was possible. And I hadn't had that feeling in so long, I didn't want to let it go".

Yang was silent, just staring off as Blake sniffled slightly, feeling like she might've ruined the moment but as she was about to try and stand "Do you know what went through my head when I saw you?" Blake refocused and shook her head. "When I saw you, standing there amongst all the rubble of the blown out entrance, I couldn't think of words to say because my eyes drew to one thing. Do you know what it was?" Out of habit, Blake looked up and fluttered her ears, but looked confused at Yangs sudden chuckle. "There was that, I am very happy you ditched your bow. You were always beautiful, but when you let your ears out, you'd break the scale." Yang spoke gently, leaving Blake speechless. _Did she just call me beautiful?_ But before she could mull that thought more, Yang began again, stroking her thumb across Blakes cheek. "It was your eyes. Those shining, golden pools that I could just get lost in for hours. All I could think was, just pulling you close and gazing into those eyes again and forget about the world around us." Yang saw the words work themselves through Blake, not once breaking contact with the very eyes she'd lose herself in, but in that moment, the words her father had spoken suddenly rang in her head once more.

_"What's your real feeling for Blake?"_

Blake had her hands up and resting on Yangs shoulders, still feeling the hand being pressed to her cheek. As they stared into each others eyes, lilac meeting amber, something clicked inside each of them. Something different and yet, at the same time, it was a feeling they both knew very well. Neither of them knew who moved first, but soon they were both leaning closer to each other, Yangs hand falling to the small of Blake's back and Blake's hands interlocking behind the nape of the Brawlers neck. They stopped moving, their lips a mere inch away from contact and their breath mingling together. Temptation gave in, their eyes closed and the inch gap disappeared, lips meeting in a gentle kiss. It was gentle, chaste kiss, each person moving slowly in unison with the other. The kiss lasted for only a few seconds before Blake pulled back slightly, opening her eyes to be met with lilac ones staring back. Yang could only gaze through half-lidded eyes into those amber pools, no words being spoken between the two. Then a sudden urge ran through them both and in an instant, Blake was brought back into a liplock with Yang, her hands burying themselves in the golden mane. Yang's grip around Blake tightened as she leaned closer, trying to deepen the kiss more and more, feeling Blake move in rhythm with her.

Blake wasn't sure what was going through her right now, but by Dust it felt natural, she didn't want it to stop. She then felt Yang's hand slide down from the spot on her back, making its way down to what Yang had once coined as "The Bellabooty", though she made no attempt to stop her. Yang was feeling more bold in her advances, resting her hand now on Blakes rump, cupping it with a gentle squeeze, earning her a soft gasp from the Faunus. Yang took this chance and nip at her lower lip lightly, kissing her harder. Blake couldn't think, she couldn't tell if it was from the heat of the tub or the heat Yang was currently generating cause dear Dust, she is addicting right now! Blake wanted to take a chance, so she ran the tip of her tongue across Yang's lip, smiling as she was greeted by Yang's own. They danced together in unison for so long, they hadn't noticed the jets were off once again until they noticed the only noise being made (besides by them) was of Yang's scroll buzzing off and cutting through the music. Yang pulled away, reluctantly also pulling her hand up to reach for her scroll. This didn't stop Blake from pulling herself closer to yangs form, peppering her neck with small kisses, making Yang give small noises of approval. Finally, Yang reached her scroll and reattached it to see what was so important. "Oh! Neon wanted to know if we'd like to go dancing later this week with her and FNKI" She spoke.

"Just us, or does she mean 'We' as in 'Team RWBY'?" Blake questioned, though not leaving the spot she placed her head in, seeing Yang quickly type back a response. A minute went by and a chime off her scroll let them know of the answer.

"Just us, it seems. Huh, little odd they'd just ask for you and me specifically." Yang pondered, showing the message to Blake to prove her point. Bringing her head up, Blake read the message out loud softly.

**Neon: **_"Hey Yang! So, Me and FNKI were gonna hit the club later this week and I was wondering if you guys would wanna join in!"_

**Yang: **_"By guys, do you mean just me or Team RWBY?"_

**Neon: **_"You and Blake, TBH, but Flint said if Weiss wants to come, he's cool with it and I'd love to get to know your baby sis some more so feel free to bring her too if she wants! I'll message you later with more details, TTYL!"_

"She sure is an odd one, isn't she?" Yang chuckled, making Blake just chuckle lightly and roll her eyes. Blake noticed then the time on the scroll, reading 6:50.

"Shit, Yang we gotta go, Dinner's starting soon!" Blake responded, going to stand up and nearly falling down into the tub in the process were it not for the cool fingers of Yang's arm grabbing her and pulling her up and into Yangs nopw standing form. Yang smiled before sliding her metallic hand up to Blakes cheek, caressing gently as her other hand slide back down to the rump, making Blake gasp slightly.

"Blake I…. I know there is so much going on right now, and now isn't the best time for, well, whatever we're feeling but…. I want this. Whatever it is, I want to make it work." Blake brought her own hand up to Yangs, holding it gently, smiling.

"I do too, and you're right. This isn't the time for this, but that doesn't mean that if we have moments like this, we can't take advantage of it." Yang couldn't hide the shine of her smile at hearing these words, leaning in and kissing her. Unlike before, this was a soft and gentle kiss, as if trying to convey the way she feels without words. It seemed to work, feeling Blake kiss back with as much passion and vigor as she could before pulling back, a smirk on those very lips. "Come on, let's go get something to eat." She chuckled, wadding through the water, stepping out and grabbing her towel, beginning to dry herself off as she headed for the locker room.

"I'm right behind ya!" Yang called back, stepping out herself and proceeding to dry off as well. As she took a step to leave, Yang paused, then grabbed her scroll and scrolling through her contacts until she found what she needed and quickly typed a message, sending it instantly before storing it back in her arm and proceeding to the locker room, a big grin on her face….

**In Patch:**

The sound of a buzzing scroll brought Taiyang's attention away from the news screen being played in the living room, looking around for his scroll. A small Yip sound formed to his left, looking and seeing the device in Zwei's mouth, his stubby tail wagging happily. Tai chuckled before grabbing the device and petting the corgi between the ears. Opening the phone, Tai saw the new notification he received "Yang?" seeing he got a text from his sunny dragon. Opening it, he read the message and slowly a small smile grew on his face, before nodding and setting his phone down with a chuckle "That's my girl…."

**Yang: **_'What are my feelings for Blake? Hope, passion and desire are my foremost ones, but the most powerful one is…. Love"._

**A/N Yea Yea I know it's been a long time since I've made a post, it is what it is. The inspiration from this came from a piece of fan-art posted by ARTesst_r on Twitter, that was eventually shared on the RWBY Nation Facebook page, titled "Bee Bath". As for what is to come in the future, well that's for debate. I've got stories a plenty to write and share with the online world, though writers block and the motivation to make them have been real drags. Along with plenty of real world problems in my way as well, I just haven't found more writing time. So when will new stories be posted? Whenever I get the chance to write them, or better yet, finish them. So until then….**

** "Let the good times roll" - Julian Chase**


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